Jon Cooper (ice hockey)

Jon Cooper
Born (1967-08-23) August 23, 1967
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
Current position Head coach
Current team Tampa Bay Lightning
Previous team(s) Syracuse Crunch
Norfolk Admirals
Green Bay Gamblers
St. Louis Bandits
Years with current team 2013–present

Jon Cooper (born August 23, 1967) is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey head coach, currently of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Coaching career

Metro Jets

During the 2001–02 Central States Hockey League (now North American 3 Hockey League) season, Cooper led the Metro Jets to the Silver Cup - the USA Hockey National Junior B Championship.

St. Louis Bandits

Cooper coached the St. Louis Bandits of the NAHL and won 2 national championships back-to-back before coaching the Green Bay Gamblers

Green Bay Gamblers

Cooper was the coach of the United States Hockey League (USHL)'s Green Bay Gamblers starting in 2008. He led the team in 2008–09 and 2009–10 to a record of 84–27–9.[1] In 2010, the team won the Clark Cup for the League's championship.[1]

Syracuse Crunch/Norfolk Admirals

Cooper (right) stands alongside Luke Richardson at the 2013 AHL All-Star Game

In 2010, Cooper was hired by the Tampa Bay Lightning to coach the Norfolk Admirals, the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. During the 2011–12 season, the Admirals won the Calder Cup as the AHL's champions. Cooper won the 2012 Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL's most outstanding head coach.[2]

For the 2012–13 season, Cooper became the head coach of the Syracuse Crunch after the Lightning changed their AHL affiliation. In 65 games with the Crunch, Cooper led the team to a 39–18–3–5 record, the best in the AHL at the time of his promotion.

Tampa Bay Lightning

On March 25, 2013, following the dismissal of Head Coach Guy Boucher,[3] the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that Cooper would become the eighth head coach in franchise history.[4] After leading the Lightning to their best season in franchise history in points (108) and wins (50), Cooper coached the Tampa Bay Lightning to their second Prince of Wales Trophy as the Eastern Conference Champion.[5] The Lightning lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.[6]

International

On November 13, 2015, Team North America General Manager, Peter Chiarelli, named Cooper as an assistant coach for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Cooper served as an assistant coach with Peter DeBoer, Dave Tippett and Jay Woodcroft under Team North America head coach Todd McLellan.[7]

Personal

Cooper was born in Prince George, British Columbia. He played high school hockey at Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hofstra University in 1989. Despite his prior lacrosse experience being that of the box variety, he was a letterman in each of the first four years of John Danowski's tenure as the varsity program's head coach. An attackman who eventually transitioned into a midfielder,[8] Cooper scored 74 goals with 25 assists for 99 points and was a member of East Coast Conference championship teams as a junior and senior. He also played one year of club hockey during his time at Hofstra.[9]

He earned a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.[2] Prior to his career as a hockey coach, Cooper served as a public defender.[10] Cooper started playing hockey again while attending law school, ultimately leading to Cooper's first experience coaching hockey at Lansing Catholic Central High School.[10] Cooper would eventually land a job with the St. Louis Bandits of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), which would in turn lead to other coaching positions.[10]

Cooper is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.[11] Cooper's mother was American, while his father was Canadian.[10] Cooper and his wife Jessie have twin daughters, Julia and Josephine, and a son, Jonathan.[2]

On September 16, 2016, the creation of the annual Coop's Catch for Kids charity fishing tournament was announced. The event is being done in partnership with the V Foundation. The tournament's purpose is for benefiting pediatric cancer research at Moffitt Cancer Center and All Children's Hospital. The event will launch from the Tampa Convention Center docks and will consist of a catch and release inshore grand slam tournament. Anglers will be fishing for snook, redfish, and trout. Each boat will feature a Lightning player or celebrity. The inaugural event will be on Tuesday, October 11 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.[12]

NHL coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
GamesWonLostOTLPointsFinish Won Lost Win % Result
TB2012–13 16 5 8 3 13 4th in Southeast — — — Did not qualify
TB2013–14 82 46 27 9 101 2nd in Atlantic 0 4 .000 Lost in First Round
TB2014–15 82 50 24 8 108 2nd in Atlantic 14 12 .538 Lost in Stanley Cup Finals
TB2015–16 82 46 31 5 97 2nd in Atlantic 11 6 .647 Lost in Conference Finals
Total 262 147 90 25 319 0 Division Championships 25 22 .543

Coaching honors

References

  1. 1 2 Leahy, Sean. "Who the heck is Jon Cooper, new Tampa Bay Lightning head coach". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Administration". Tampa Bay Lightning. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Lightning Release Guy Boucher of Coaching Duties". Tampa Bay Lightning. March 24, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Lightning name Jon Cooper as head coach". Tampa Bay Lightning. March 25, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Prince of Wales Trophy". NHL. The National Hockey League. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
  6. ↑ "Blackhawks claim third Stanley Cup in six seasons with shutout of Lightning – Recap". ESPN. June 16, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Jon Cooper Named Assistant Coach for Team North America for 2016 World Cup of Hockey". NHL.com. November 13, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  8. ↑ Lorenzo, Stephen. "From Hofstra to Tampa Bay Lightning coach: Jon Cooper's road to the NHL," New York Daily News, Friday, May 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ Gorchov, Stephen. "Hofstra Alumnus Jon Cooper Leads Tampa Bay Lightning Into NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals," Hofstra University Athletics, Friday, May 15, 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Satkowiak, Ryan (October 2013). "The Road Less Traveled: Jon Cooper's Rise Up NHL Coaching Ranks". USA Hockey Magazine. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  11. ↑ Erik Erlendsson (March 25, 2013). "Tampa Bay Lightning hire Cooper as head coach". Tampa Bay Online. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  12. ↑ Tampa Bay, Lightning (September 28, 2016). "Lightning's Jon Cooper To Host Charity Fishing Slam". Tampa Bay Lightning.com. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Prince of Wales Trophy". NHL. The National Hockey League. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
  14. ↑ "Babcock, Cooper, Roy voted Adams Award finalists". National Hockey League. May 6, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2015.

External links

Preceded by
Guy Boucher		 Head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning
2013–present 		Incumbent
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